Lebanon beats Turkey 4-2 in Mediterranean Futsal Cup
Bookmark thisBEIRUT: Lebanon scored two goals either side of half time to beat Turkey 4-2 in its opening game of the Mediterranean Futsal Cup in Libya Tuesday.
Lebanon took the initiative and controlled most of the play in the early stages of the game, held in Tripoli, with the Turkish team happy to sit back and catch Lebanon on the break.
The first goal came from a driven corner that was left by the Turkish players and found its way through to Atwi Hayssam who slotted it into the back of the net.
Lebanon had a couple of long-range efforts and continued to press before Kawssan Kassem scored with a shot from inside the area.
The second half started with Lebanon on the back foot as Turkey fought back into the game, putting heavier pressure on the ball and creating attacking plays which stifled Lebanon’s attack.
Lebanon hit the post and crossbar before Turkey grabbed a goal back with Saglam Cuma Aziz slotted home.
After that goal, Lebanon began to pick up from where they started in the first half and very quickly established their two-goal cushion. After some neat play through midfield the ball ended up at Koutany Jean’s feet and with only the goalkeeper to beat, before hitting a powerful effort underneath the Turkish keeper.
Turkey pulled a goal back through a thunderous 15 meter strike from Erdal Yasin.
Man of the match Takaji Khaled said “The opening ceremony was amazing and the preparation is very good. We are very happy with the result and everybody played well.”
Elsewhere in Lebanon’s group, Croatia thrashed Palestine 8-1 to reaffirm its status as the one of the favorites for the Mediterranean Cup.
Futsal is a discipline of soccer invented in Uruguay and popularized across the world thanks to Brazil’s reliance on futsal players for its national soccer team. Futsal is indoor, 5-a-side and uses a smaller, heavier ball than its soccer counterpart.